When you first sign up with Orca, you’re asked a few questions about your boat – and Orca sets up its routing behaviour based on these.
The default options are great for the typical boater, but as you get more experienced with Orca, you likely want to start fine-tuning Orca’s routing behaviour to match your style of boating and the characteristics of your vessel.
You control all your route preferences via Main Menu > My Boat > Route Settings.
What routing preferences are available?
The available routing settings depend on which vessel type you have selected. You can change your vessel type via Main Menu > My Boat > Type.
Universal Route Preferences
These preferences are available to sailboats and powerboats.
Routing height limit - The routing engine will prefer to avoid bridges and cables lower than this value.
Routing depth limit - The routing engine will prefer to avoid areas, rocks, and obstacles shallower than this value.
Routing leeway - Adjust how close to the shore the routing engine prefers to follow.
Sailboat Route Preferences
Engine cruise speed - Used to estimate route arrival time. Set to your average cruising speed when near shore or inside restriction zones.
Minimum wind speed - Routing will switch to engine when windspeed is below this limit.
Polar scaling - Reduce your expected boat speed compared to your polar diagram.
Polar night scaling - Reduce your expected boat speed while sailing at night.
Polar beat angle offset - Increase your beat angle compared to your polar diagram.
Sail routing is also influenced by your Polar Diagram. You can change it via Main Menu > My Boat > Polar Performance.
Powerboat Route Preferences
Offshore cruising speed - Used to estimate route arrival time. Set to your average cruising speed when offshore and outside restriction zones.
Near shore cruising speed - Used to estimate route arrival time. Set to your average cruising speed when near shore or inside restriction zones.
How do I make routing avoid shallow depths?
The routing engine will attempt to avoid areas shallower than the depth limit you set. In cases where there’s no navigable route without entering shallow waters, Orca will still find a way to your destination, but it will display the shallow route section in red as a warning.
A general recommendation is to set the depth limit slightly deeper than your boat’s draft. For those navigating in unfamiliar or complex waters, you may want to add more depth as an extra safety margin.
Below is an image illustrating the effects of depth limit adjustments.
To the left, a depth limit of 1 meter makes the route follow the shoreline closely, crossing shallow sand banks. To the right, a depth limit of 10 meters. The route keeps further away from shallows but takes 40 minutes longer.
How do I make routing avoid bridges or overhead cables?
Adjust your height limit and Orca will avoid bridges and overhead cables lower than the limit you specify. Similar to the depth limit, it’s wise to add a bit of a buffer in case of arching bridges or sagging cables.
Below is an image illustrating the effects of height limit adjustments.
To the left, a height limit of 2 meters allows for passing under the 7-meter bridge southwest of Kjøkøya. With a higher height limit, the route follows the northern channel.
How do I change the ETAs that routing is giving me?
Adjust your boat speed to reflect your actual cruising speed when going by engine.
Getting the boat speed right is important because accurate speed estimates lead to precise ETAs, which in turn determine the relevance of weather forecasts Orca will show along your route. Powerboat owners can specify different speeds for nearshore and open-water cruising to get even more accurate ETAs.
Below is an image illustrating the effects of boat speed adjustments.
To the left, a sailboat going from Barcelona to Palma at 6 knots will have a windy trip. To the right, a fast powerboat cruising at 25 knots will outrun the bad weather.
How do I change my preferred distance to shore?
Routing leeway determines how far from shore Orca will attempt to route. Smaller boats or those traveling in sheltered waters may prefer to stay close to shore or between islands for sheltered passages, while larger vessels or boats going in open waters should increase Routing Leeway. The distance can be adjusted from zero to 500 / 1500 feet meters from shore.
Below is an image illustrating the effects of routing leeway adjustments.
To the left, a high shore distance preference will prefer to stay in open waters. To the right, a lower distance preference will follow closer to shore.
